What is amnesia?

Many things can cause amnesia, for example head injury, surgery, alcoholism, certain drugs and disease. There are different types of amnesia – some are temporary, others permanent. Amnesia can affect the storing of new memories, or the retrieving of old ones, or sometimes both. Amnesia rarely affects memories of how to do things. Most sufferers can still carry out daily activities like getting dressed or cooking, even if afterwards they cannot remember where they were at the time.